Lonavala
(Maharashtra): Lonavala's tourism industry has been
badly hit by a swine flu scare. The city's civic administration
has appealed to tourists to avoid the locality. Somnath
Jamble, president of Lonavala Municipal Corporation appealed
to tourists, especially from Pune and Mumbai not to head
for Lonavala during the weekend. "On August 15, many tourists
will visit Lonavala from Mumbai and Pune and we cannot
stop them from coming here but we can certainly request
the tourists coming here not to come and help us prevent
the disease," said Jamble. Tourist officials said the
business has gone down by nearly 75 percent. Most of the
shops are empty and the hotel bookings have dropped considerably
but a few foreign tourists were seen in the city. Ross,
a tourist from London said that he was taking basic precautions
like using facemask and washing hands. "We are basically
avoiding crowded areas and we have masks so if it becomes
a bit crowded we wear the masks we take usually measures
like washing hands," Ross added. India recorded its first
H1N1 case in Hyderabad in May and since then the virus
has spread across the country with dozens of cases from
Pune itself. -August
13, 2009